Page 91 of Her Wild Coast Refuge

Mary Alice cocks her head, as if seeing me in a new light. “That she does.”

“Try not to worry,” Quinn adds, thankfully curbing Mary Alice’s curiosity.

There will be time later to return and apologize for the damage I’ve done. To beg for forgiveness.

If it isn’t too late.

Quinn and I descend the steps and hurry down the path. At the pass, the whine of a seaplane taking off from the lake cuts the silence.

As it lifts into the sky, my loose thoughts crash together like marbles in a jar.

“What?” Quinn asks, turning back to frown at me.

“That first plane we say was yellow.”

“So?”

“Soren Lake Lodge’s seaplane fleet are painted blue.”

Quinn stares at the blue plane now banking left. “Can anybody land on Soren Lake?”

“Probably, but I bet only Soren Lake employees and guests can use the dock.”

“Ken’s plane was yellow.”

I start down the trail. “And Mary Alice is missing her sugar and salt. I have a feeling if we check the lodge, they’ll be missing some items.”

“You think Lexie’s up there on some kind of rampage?” Quinn asks, right on my heels.

“There’s only one way to find out,” I say.

“You’re right.Two gas cans are missing,” the groundskeeper says, rubbing his chin. “What’s going on?”

“Can we hire one of your planes?” I ask instead.

The man, an older gentleman with thin blonde hair and a pot belly, looks even more confused. “Guests sign up for trips in the lodge.”

“We’re not guests,” I say.

The groundskeeper recoils like we’re some kind of vermin. “Uh, then no.”

Without saying goodbye, Quinn and I trot down the trail to the dock, but it’s empty.

“Shit,” I mutter.

“Plan B,” Quinn says, already dialing a number on his phone.

Thirty minutes later, we’ve found a helicopter tour company who will fly us to the survey camp. For an extra fee, they will pick us up at the lodge parking lot.

“Should we tell someone about this?” Quinn asks as we sprint past the lodge and up the trail.

“Like we think Lexie McCabe is building a bomb at a survey camp? They’d probably arrest us.”

“What if she is?” He stops himself, clenching his teeth.

“Then we have to convince her to stop.”

Quinn gets on the phone again. “We’ve got a situation, Deb.” He rattles off orders. “Find out everything you can about Kalle Jensen and Fish2Forever. See if he has ties to ecoterrorism.”

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